


please don't take my sunshine away

by madasthesea



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 16:03:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6711763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madasthesea/pseuds/madasthesea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When fighting an akuma with the power to cause sadness, Ladybug tries to remember the things in life that make her happiest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	please don't take my sunshine away

**Author's Note:**

> This akumatized villain is based fairly heavily on the Dementors from Harry Potter, which are of course based on depression. Though there's nothing more explicit than a few negative thoughts, and it's mostly focused on overcoming the influence, proceed with caution if you are sensitive to that sort of thing.

_You make me happy when skies are gray_

 

Finding the akuma victim was easy. She just followed the trail of dark mist curling through the streets. She leaped across the rooftops, watching the fog grow thicker. Visible among the blackness were Parisians, most sitting in the fetal position. Some were crying out, but most just sat in silence, staring into nothing, too absorbed in their own thoughts. She wasn’t sure what the akuma’s power was, but it was strong.

“ _Foggy_ meeting you here, Bug,” a voice called from the next roof over. She looked to her left, watching Chat Noir leap to her building.

“That was pretty bad, _chaton_ ,” she remarked calmly. He shrugged, smiling. A soft whimper broke the quiet of the street. They both focused back on the task at hand.

“Any ideas what her power is?” Chat asked. Ladybug shook her head.

“I don’t like the look of that fog,” she said. “Try not to let it touch you.” He nodded and they jumped into action. They followed the trail of mist, racing across the rooftops. They found the epicenter of the activity near the Trocadero.

A woman dressed in a long, flowing black dress floated in the middle of the square. Draped over her shoulders was a cloak made up of thick, iron chains, woven together with smoke. Her skin was pure white with black tear tracks carving her cheeks.

“I think you’re makeup needs a touch up, ” Chat Noir called down to her.

“I should have known you’d make fun of me. Everyone else does. I’m Tristessa. And I’m going to show you how it feels.” Chat looked a little taken aback for a second, before he had to leap away, dodging a chain she’d sent at him.

Marinette followed his lead, flipping in the opposite direction. She was trying her best to find the item the akuma was in, but the shroud of blackness made it hard to clearly see. Tristessa was aiming almost solely at Chat Noir, shooting tendrils of mist and thick chains at him. He was flipping and twisting, and Ladybug took advantage of his distraction to think of a plan.

She had just glimpsed a shimmering, silver handkerchief clutched in Tristessa’s hand when she heard Chat cry out. Feeling a stab of fear, she turned her attention back to the fight. Chat Noir was wrapped up in one of the chains, and Marinette watched in horror as he fell to his knees.

“Chat Noir!” she cried, swinging over to him. She reached toward the chain, planning to unwrap it.

“Don’t touch it!” he rasped. It sounded almost like a sob. She jerked her hand back. After a second of struggling, Chat managed to wriggle his hand until it was touching the links. He called on his Cataclysm and the chain rusted away into nothing. He fell forward and Ladybug lunged to catch him. He was shaking.

“Chat, are you ok?” she asked, her voice higher than she’d like. He nodded weakly. “What happened?”

“As soon as they touched me, it was like…” he trailed off, shivering harder. “It was like I forgot how to be happy.” Ladybug’s eyes widened and she wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders. After a moment, he seemed to have come to himself enough to sit up on his own.

Marinette hadn’t even stopped to consider the fact that there was still a supervillain on the rampage. She felt the creeping mist before she saw it. It sent a shiver up her spine, a dense, freezing fog that played along the material of her suit. As soon as it touched her, it was like it was leeching out all the warmth in her body.

She spun, crouching. Tristessa was watching from afar, a purple butterfly outline around her face. Ladybug stood, but her legs were suddenly shaky. She took a step forward and almost stumbled. She felt weak, drained like she’d run a marathon. Tristessa was so far away and she was just so _tired_. The next step was even harder. The next sent her crashing back to the ground.

Ladybug was on her hands and knees, gasping for breath. _What’s the point_ , she thought to herself. _I can’t even walk let alone fight. Why try?_ She shook her head, hoping to dislodge the thought. Looking for strength, she glanced back at Chat Noir. He was laying on the ground, the mist around him thick and so, so dark. He was looking at her, but it felt like his gaze went straight through her. She thought she saw tears on his mask.

Her arms were beginning to shake so much she couldn’t hold herself up. She collapsed onto her elbows, then sideways, bruising her hip on impact. _You’re the worst superhero Paris has ever seen_ , a voice told her. It might have been her own. _You can’t even save yourself._ Silence pressed around her like a physical barrier.

Every breath was exhausting, every heartbeat hurt. _Please_ , she almost begged. _I don’t want to do this anymore_. And then another voice, and even more familiar voice, a voice that made her think of blond hair and green eyes whispered, “This is her power. You must fight it.” She drew in another aching breath.

Ladybug threw up her yo-yo. “Lucky Charm!” she gasped out, praying for a quick solution. Her arm fell down heavily, her body too tired to hold it up any longer. She almost failed to catch the object that appeared in midair, snatching it at the last second.

She blinked at it for a long moment, trying to force her mind to work amid the haze of darkness surrounding her.

“A photo album?”

Chat groaned next to her and her thoughts seemed to scatter, as if fleeing from the sound. She shook her head.

The red and black book sat innocuously in her lap. As if they were separate from her body, she felt her hands flip open the cover. A picture of her family smiled up at her. Her dad filled up much of the frame, an open-mouthed smile stretching his cheeks. The vaguest hint of memory tickled the back of her mind, the ghost of his deep-bellied laugh echoing somewhere far off. He was bending over her tiny mother, the woman’s eyes pushed into slits as she smiled, one arm wrapped around her husband’s arm. Marinette was squished between them in a messy knot of a hug. Her own smile was huge and Ladybug stared at it, trying to remember how it felt to be that happy.

She remembered the moment when this picture was taken. It had been last summer, during their three day vacation to Nice. Her family couldn’t get away often, with the bakery being so popular. The trip had been a rare treat, the hot beaches and cool ocean a welcome reprieve from Paris’ towering buildings and cobbled streets. Her father had gotten horribly sunburned and Marinette had lost her favorite hat, but she’d loved every minute of it. Just before they’d taken the photo, Marinette had tripped, her parents catching her reflexively. Her embarrassed grin and her parents’ kind laughter was captured in a flash, the stranger who’d taken it handing back their camera with a smile.

As Ladybug stared at it, she felt her ragged breaths ease. She flipped to the next page. There was a picture of Alya with her arm thrown around Marinette’s shoulders. It had been the second week of school, when the weather was still warm and homework was rare. They’d gone shopping together, strolling down Rue Saint-Honoré in the golden light of the setting sun. Alya had bought a yellow sundress for her, as a birthday present, and Marinette had been showered with compliments the first time she’d worn it. The corners of Ladybug’s mouth twitched as she remembered Alya wolf-whistling as she’d twirled in the sunshine. Around her, the darkness crept slowly away.

She turned another page, not noticing the way her hands responded to her commands again. Her fragile smile grew steady as she saw Adrien. Not model Adrien, or fencing champion Adrien, or even Gabriel Agreste’s son Adrien, but the Adrien she’d fallen in love with. For the first time, it occurred to her that these might not be pictures, but snapshots from her own memory. Because the photo on the page wasn’t one of the many she had taped to her walls, but a moment from the day she’d first met him. It was raining, the sky was dark, and Adrien’s eyes were bright as he handed her his umbrella. There was a bolt of lightning splitting the sky behind him and the rumble of thunder seemed to reverberate around her as she looked at the image. The faint memory of his laugh wrapped around her and she felt warmth in her chest at the sound.

She turned another page and knew without a doubt whom she would see next. Chat Noir’s soft smile was lit by the Parisian lights, the night deep and blue behind his wild blond hair. The tenderness of his gaze was unusual, which is why she remembered the moment so vividly. They were fresh from an akuma battle, the victory still thrumming in their veins. She had swung to the top of Notre Dame and he had followed. They both needed to go, seek solitude before their Miraculous ran out, but they had a few moments to spare. She’d stood at the precipice, looking down on her city, and had been nearly overcome with awe at the path her life had taken. She’d turned to Chat Noir, wondering if he felt the same, only to find him looking at her. His smile had grown as she made eye contact and she smiled back. Then he commended her on a job well done, bid her goodnight, and leapt away. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until Ladybug looked at the photo of her trusted partner that she understood how this Lucky Charm would help defeat Tristessa.

To confirm her suspicions, she flipped quickly through the rest of the book, the photos almost blurring in her speed. She saw her classmates, Tikki, the bakery, the Eiffel Tower lit up like a beacon, bolts of fabric and thread, the heart stopping view she always had in that moment of suspense between each swing of her yo-yo. Things that made her happy. Things she loved. She smiled in triumph and the darkness fled back.

“Chat,” she called, crawling the few feet separating them. “ _Chaton_ , you need to listen to me.” He groaned again as she pulled him up to lean against her shoulder. “You need to focus. Chat Noir, can you hear me?”

“Yes, My Lady,” he whispered against her collar bone. She wanted to cry at the pain she heard there, but instead she focused on the term of endearment he used and pushed away the rest.

“What makes you happy? Focus on that. Tell me what you love,” she instructed, wrapping her arm around him. Her own list repeated in her head: _my parents, Alya, Adrien, Chat Noir, Tikki…_

“I love my father,” he started, his breathing labored and his muscles twitching under her hands.

“Good job,” she encouraged. _My parents, Alya, Adrien, Chat Noir…_ “What else?”

“I love my friends.” The tension seeped slowly out of him. “I love being Chat Noir.” A ghost of a smile graced his mouth and she smiled back, her list taking a backseat to Chat’s.

“I love you,” he said. And he’d dragged his eyes up to meet hers and she thought he might have meant it as a confession, but it didn’t feel like one. He was listing things that made him happy. She happened to be one of them. He was on her list too. She held him tighter. His breath against her throat was even and strong.

“And I really love puns,” he added, pulling back so she could see his grin. She laughed in surprise and the darkness that had been slowly retreating fled like it’d been burned.

“I already knew that one, _mon minou_ ,” she said. She stood and offered him her hand. “Ready?”

“Ready,” he answered, taking her hand and hopping up. They smiled at each other one more time, then turned and raced into the blackness. It was hard to fight against the fog of despair as it tried to wrap around them and pull them down again, but Ladybug kept repeating her list in her head. _I love my parents, Alya, Adrien, Chat Noir, Tikki. I love Paris. I’m doing this for Paris._ Sometimes she heard Chat’s voice, just over her shoulder, muttering his own list to himself.

“I love my father. I love my friends. I love Ladybug,” he chanted like a mantra. Soon, her list included everything on his. If they made him happy enough to fight against Tristessa’s power, they made her happy too. The black mist faded and ebbed, any hold it had on her sliding off. Quickly, she and Chat Noir were standing in a circle of sunshine, the walls of blackness held at bay around them, like the eye of a storm. Tristessa stood at the edge, her cloak of chains and smoke whipping out behind her.

When she saw the heroes, she screamed, wordless and guttural, and chains shot toward them. They dodged, spinning and jumping in tandem.

“You _mist_ ,” Chat Noir shouted at her and Ladybug laughed again, allowing her amusement to be heard, rather than hiding it behind a roll of her eyes like she usually did. The darkness shrank back, revealing part of the street and a couple of dazed citizens.

“Stop that!” Tristessa shouted, sending another chain after Chat. Instead of dodging, he caught it in both hands. Ladybug could see him mouthing his list again, trying to fend off the despair. Then he started pouncing from one streetlight to another, twisting and ducking. Ladybug understood what he was doing and dashed forward, grabbing another chain and doing the same. It didn’t take long for Tristessa to become thoroughly encased in her own chains.

Ladybug walked forward and snatched the handkerchief away, tearing it in two. She cleansed the akuma automatically, and then threw the photo album into the air. The wave of red and black swept away the mists and chains, leaving dozens of people blinking confusedly in the sunlight. Tessa returned to her normal self, looking around at her surroundings with a questioning gaze.

She held out her fist to Chat Noir. “Bien joué,” she cheered as he bumped his fist with hers. Their eyes met and Ladybug found herself suddenly very reluctant to leave. She knew her timer was ticking down quickly and his was even lower. But she had a few seconds to spare, didn’t she?

She stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He responded instantly, his arms wrapping around her waist so tightly she was almost lifted off the ground. She buried her face against his chest and let herself count to ten. When she pulled away, he gently caught her face in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Once he'd drawn back, she smiled at him in farewell, and leapt to the nearest rooftop.

Later, after she’d hugged her parents tightly, after she’d called Alya, and after she’d slept off the lingering ache in her muscles, she would let herself think about the way she’d been so sure that Chat Noir was in her book of things she loved. And the way he’d told her he loved her. And maybe even the way he’d held her to him. But for now, as she released her transformation three blocks from home and caught a panting Tikki in her hands, she just enjoyed the sunlight.  

 

_You'll never know, dear, how much I love you_

**Author's Note:**

> Tristesse is the French word for sadness (so Google translate tells me). I should probably avoid trying to be clever in a language I don't speak from now on. Hope you liked it, despite my sub-par punning.


End file.
